Jackbox Games Backend Software Engineer

Jackbox Games is best known for its rapidly expanding catalog of critically acclaimed party games including Quiplash, Drawful, Fibbage, The Jackbox Party Pack, The Jackbox Party Pack 2, and the recently released (and unsurprisingly named) The Jackbox Party Pack 3. As Jackbox Games moves into the last 83% of this century, we hope to build on our successful business by pushing the boundaries of party games with new technology, new game concepts, and new forms of interactivity. We also hope the sandwich shop doesn’t put too much mayonnaise on our sandwich next time.

We make party games where players interact with a game being displayed on a big screen using their phones or tablets as controllers. While our games are often played at home in small groups of 2-8 people, we also support large-scale games at conferences or via Twitch streaming where thousands of users can connect and interact.

We’re a small group (around 20 people) of very talented, funny, and creative individuals looking for a Backend Software Engineer to join our Chicago-based team.

THAT’S LOVELY… BUT WHAT’S THE JOB?

We are looking for a software engineer with experience architecting, developing, and maintaining backend systems at scale.

As a small engineering team, we expect everyone to be able to jump into different projects and contribute to many aspects of our technology. However, this position is focused on owning and driving improvements to our AWS-based backend infrastructure, including scalable Node.js real-time messaging servers, traditional web servers, data stores, and other systems.

In the near future, we are looking to develop games that can be played at even larger scale, while still supporting the exponentially growing user base for our existing games.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Work with VP of Technology to develop and maintain a roadmap for our backend systems

Lead architecture and implementation of new features and changes to backend infrastructure considering efficiency, maintainability, stability, and security

Research technologies, platforms and strategies to incorporate into our technology

Write automated tests and build scripts

Participate in prototyping and experimentation as we explore and develop new product ideas

Participate in code reviews and the release process for all relevant projects

Work with both internal and external QA teams to find and fix issues as they come up during production and testing

Have the ability to work independently or as part of a team, depending on the nature of the work you are doing.

AND IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU ALSO HAD…

An understanding of game mechanics and intuition for what makes a game successful

Experience developing web applications and other tools

Great party game ideas

ANYTHING ELSE?

Yes. We only hire nice, bright, funny people who are willing to work hard. Jackbox Games is a group effort and you must work collaboratively with creative, technical, and business types. Everyone here shares a commitment to excellence and a desire to work in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere.

ARE THERE ANY PERKS?

Competitive pay and benefits. 401(k) with matching. And we pay 100% of the cost of premiums for medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance for our employees. We also cover a really nice chunk of the cost of premiums for spouse/partner/dependent medical, dental and vision insurance.

Casual dress and a flexible schedule. Come in a sweatshirt, jeans, whatever, like everyone else here.

Creative work environment. We are lucky to work in a place that is full of intelligent, talented and innovative folks. Although most hours the place is deathly quiet (we’re a focused bunch), this is punctuated with hilarious outbursts and general merriment, which makes a nice way to spend the day.

Easy transportation. We’re very close to the “L” and the Halsted (#8) bus (right by the new Apple Store and Mega Whole Foods if that’s your kind of thing), and we have a transit FSA that allows you to dedicate pre-tax dollars to public transportation expenses.

Free food. Every week, we stock our kitchen with free snack foods.

INTERESTED?

Great, we look forward to reading your application – make sure it includes:

A cover letter that highlights three reasons you think you’d be great for the gig, focusing on how your past work experience has prepared you for this kind of position. We weigh cover letters heavily. Include a list of products, systems, or games you have worked on and your role in their development. Please feel free to write in your own voice – most cover letters are standard and boring, and that just isn’t us.

If you decide to apply, please know that every complete application will be carefully reviewed. Seriously! We know it is a time commitment to prepare an application. And we respect that effort by thoughtfully reviewing every complete application and responding one way or the other. But that kind of thoughtful review means that it sometimes takes us a while to get back to applicants, so please NO PHONE CALLS. The time we spend responding to phone calls and emails inquiring about where we are in the process is time that we could be spending moving the process along – so please be patient with us!